Cross the Ocean — Holly Bush

1871 . . . The very proud Duke of Wexford was about to have his orderly world blown apart. At the age of nineteen Blake Sanders had wed a beautiful, dutiful wife, and she had borne him three children. But now as mid-life approached, the Duchess had the unheard of temerity to leave him Too mortified by her behavior to mix in ton company, Blake sought companionship with his best friend and neighbor, Anthony Burroughs and his wife Elizabeth. But Blake had forgotten the Burroughs were entertaining a houseguest, Elizabeth's distant cousin, a spinsterish 'Amazon from America'. Gertrude Finch, a champion for women's rights, had long ago decided most men were pretty useless other than Uncle Fred who'd raised her on his horse ranch near Chicago. While traveling with other Suffragists, Gert lectured women on the perils of passion, and the value of independence, but thought of neither when Blake kissed her. While opposite in nearly every way, other than an attraction neither could deny, their one night of passion would change her world, and send Gert scurrying her way back home across the ocean. When Blake discovered his heir had stowed away on Gertrude's ship, he set out on his own adventure to America, to bring the boy home and to see her once again. Traversing America's vast wilderness, Blake discovered that Gertrude had changed his life. Whether riding the rails or meeting common folk, Blake saw a whole new way of living, but most of all, he realized something about love. He found he was not immune, and his heart could love, and love deeply.